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Works in Progress

Friday, June 20, 2014

I thought of this idea
about three weeks too late, but this was something I wanted to do. So, I’m
currently three weeks into a Figment run competition called America’s Next
Great Author, and I thought I would take you guys along on the journey with me
(although I don't know how much longer that will be).

Even though I’m
already three weeks in, I’ll begin my sharing my week one story. The prompt
titled “Introduce Your Partner” and everyone was paired up with another writer
and then had to write a story about them based on their submission bio.

I want to give a
special shout-out to my partner Victoria H. or Casey Pritchard, who I found out
has very similar taste to me in terms of literature and also an all around
awesome person. Her submission about me actually ended up winning the challenge
for the week so congrats again and awesome job.

I worked really hard
on this week’s piece because I didn’t do very well with this prompt last year
and I sort of wanted to redeem myself. Overall I’m proud of it and I think I
did a decent job.

So here is my week one
piece titled Casey Pritchard. Enjoy!

Casey walked down Main Street on her way to her job
interview at Sunny Side Up, the new local breakfast shop that had just opened
in her home town. Her mind was all over the place as she juggled thoughts about
her interview while also planning out a new character.

“Good luck at your job interview
Casey!” She heard someone shout at her from across the street. Her brain
snapped back to reality and her head swiveled around to the source of the shout.
On the other side of the street she saw her creative writing teacher waving at
her from across the street. She never recalled telling her teacher she had a
job interview, but she didn’t have to. Everything about everyone made its way
around the small, quaint town of Maineville, Ohio, whether you wanted everyone
to know that you collected antique my little ponies in your spare time or not.

She smiled then waved back at her.
“Thank you Mrs. Smith!”

“I’m sure you’ll get the job. I’d
expect nothing less from my best student!”

Introverted. Doesn’t
open up to others easily.

As she
approached the door to the shop her heart was racing. She really needed a job.
She wanted to save up money for a car and start putting some away for college.

She
opened the door, bells jingling as she stepped inside. She was greeted with the
scent bacon cooking on the stove. She inhaled the smell as she imagined it
sizzling on the stove in the back kitchen.

Mysterious aura.

A man stepped out from behind a corner.
He was fairly tall with a bald head with several tattoos covering his arms. She
didn’t recognize him which was a shocking considering she knew almost everyone
in town. She assumed he had just moved to Mainville to open up the shop.

“You
Casey?” He responded in a rather intimidating tone.

Casey
nodded her head as she responded. “Thank you for taking the time to meet with
me.”

“It’s
not a problem, go ahead and fill out this paper work and I’ll be right back.”
He motioned to a booth located near the back of the store with some papers
sitting on top of it. She walked over and sat down as she stared at the form.
She picked up a pen and began to fill it out.

Wears sunglasses
constantly. Likes the color gray

He returned a few minutes later and
slid into the seat in the booth across from her. He looked up at her with a
rather serious face. “I’ll look over your paper work later, but I do have a few
questions for you right now. So, what do you like to do in your spare time?”

“I love
writing,” she responded almost automatically. “I just love creating new
characters and new worlds.”

The man
scoffed at the comment slightly. “So your one of those creative types then.
Head in the clouds, always distracted. Am I wrong?”

“Well,
not really…” she said rather quietly.

“That’s
not the best response. I need dedicated people to work here, not someone who
will spend their shift daydreaming.”

“I’m a
very responsible and dedicated person. One of the things I learned from writing…”

“Again
with the writing, don’t you do anything else in your spare time?” The man
interrupted cutting her off. Casey was shocked to silence. It took her a few
moments to gather her thoughts together before she responded.

“With
all due respect, writing is one of my passions, and I won’t apologize for being
a writer.” She was silent for a few seconds before she added something else.
“And I don’t think this is the right job for me.” She stood up and began
walking towards the door. She heard the man laughing at her from behind.

“Suit
yourself,” It wasn’t long before he got up and continued with his daily
business.

As she
walked down the street away from the shop, her head was once again filled with
more thoughts. She still didn’t have a job, but she couldn’t force herself to
work for someone who disrespected her for writing. She smiled slightly to
herself. At least the day wasn’t a total loss. She had just thought of a story
for her new character.

~~~

Two women stood
outside of an iron gray fence. One of them was an old lady leaning with curly
white hair glancing at some papers she held in her right hand. The other was a
young girl with shoulder length black hair, wearing sunglasses despite the lack
of need for them. The sky was overcast and gray, but that was the way Hannah
liked it. It was her favorite color after all.

“Tell
me sweetie, why would you want to work at a place as dreary as a cemetery? A
young pretty girl like yourself should take up a part-time job as a waitress or
a sales associate.”

Hannah tilted her head
as if the woman had asked her a strange question. There was a long silence
before she spoke in a low monotone voice.

“Because,” she began,
stretching the word out so long it almost sounded like a sigh. “I have a
fascination with death. It’s so permanent and silent. Don’t you think so?”

~~~

Casey stared at the screen of her computer for a second. She
read over what she had written to make sure she was proud of it. She saved her
changes and clicked the publish button on the Figment website. A pop-up box
appeared on her screen. “Success! You
have just published The Job Interview by Victoria H. Would you like to
share your work with your friends?” She smiled as she clicked the yes
button, hoping to encourage others to read her work and to inspire them with
her words